Food for Thought

On October 18 at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, a group of jazz musicians put on a concert for charity, but it wasn’t just a normal benefit show.

L to R: Kris Allen, Noah Baerman, and Jimmy Greene

The Jazz Samaritan Alliance is led by three local jazz legends: Kris Allen (alto saxophone), Noah Baerman (piano), and Jimmy Greene (tenor saxophone). They were joined on Saturday night by Chris Dingman (vibes), Ike Sturm (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums). All six of them have played together in different combinations under different circumstances, but it wasn’t until recently that they joined together to play music for a cause. The Alliance is the brainchild of Greene, Baerman, and Allen, whose father is a regular volunteer at Foodshare. Partly because of that connection, all of the concert’s proceeds went to Foodshare. (Thanks to funding from the John and Edi Murphy Music for Humanity Fund.)

Foodshare also had an important role in the development of the concert’s program: a few of the pieces were inspired by the band members’ personal experiences with Foodshare and the issue of hunger. The majority of the songs were also world premieres. For example, vibraphonist Chris Dingman introduced one of his pieces titled “Reach Out,” mentioning that he was inspired by Foodshare’s impact on the community; how we use our volunteers to address so many aspects of hunger in our service area. Another good example of an inspired piece was “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” written by pianist Noah Baerman. He talked about its connection with the book of the same title, in which author Michael Pollan explores the choices we face in what we eat.

The Jazz Samaritan Alliance may all be incredible musicians, but their shared commitment to social justice is at the heart of the group’s being. And in that sense, they are a perfect example of how we imagine the Movement to Solve Hunger working: people using their particular skills, connections, and experience to spread the word, inspire others, and make change happen. To see how you can help, Join the Movement here.